Bath and Discovery

"Hannah." For some reason, Fred had a sudden impulse to lie (side effect from ep. 115336). So, she blurted out another name that hovered in the background of her fuzzy memories.

Astra smiled. "Hannah? Hm, one of those Allarian names, I suppose. Pretty, though. Now come along, Hannah. The girls have probably set up the bath by now." Sure enough, behind one of the tents, a large tub was currently being filled with warm water. Soap and drying cloths had also been gathered.

Once everything was in place, one of the ladies assisted Fred into the water and began to help her scrub herself down. Despite not minding the dirt, taking a bath felt quite wonderful in its own way. This sentiment was not shared by everyone, however. As soon as the woman began rubbing soap into Fred's long hair, her cockroach friend leapt out to escape.

The woman gasped and tried to stomp on the creature, but it was too fast, zipping under the tub for refuge. After that, the bath continued without further incident.

Meanwhile, Astra had gathered some spare clothes and laid them out nearby. When she approached, the woman washing Fred spoke up. "Milady, I noticed something strange about this girl. At first, I assumed it to be the dust, then the bath water. Now, I'm sure it's really her skin. It's grey."

Grey? Fred inspected her arm. Sure enough, it seemed to be the colour of pale marble. Luckily, or perhaps not so much, it could easily be mistaken for a strange pallor under the right light. In contrast, the skin looked healthy, firm and smooth like the stone it resembled.

Then, she realized that Astra was staring. "Hannah, what are you?"

1. "Human."
2. "Human, but cursed."
3. "Roach."
4. Fred shrugged silently.

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